enterprise publication print suite 4.0 integration guide · efi technique for the efi printflow...

Enterprise Publication Print Suite 4.0 Integration Guide

Technique 5.4 / PrintFlow®14.2 May 2016

2 l EFI Technique | PrintFlow Integration Setup and Use Guide

Copyright © 1999 - 2016 by Electronics for Imaging United Kingdom Limited. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 1999 - 2016 by Electronics for Imaging, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

EFI Technique | PrintFlow Integration Setup and Use Guide

May 2016 version 3

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This product may be covered by one or more of the following U.S. Patents: 4,716,978, 4,828,056, 4,917,488, 4,941,038, 5,109,241, 5,170,182, 5,212,546, 5,260,878, 5,276,490, 5,278,599, 5,335,040, 5,343,311, 5,398,107, 5,424,754, 5,442,429, 5,459,560, 5,467,446, 5,506,946, 5,517,334, 5,537,516, 5,543,940, 5,553,200, 5,563,689, 5,565,960, 5,583,623, 5,596,416, 5,615,314, 5,619,624, 5,625,712, 5,640,228, 5,666,436, 5,745,657, 5,760,913, 5,799,232, 5,818,645, 5,835,788, 5,859,711, 5,867,179, 5,940,186, 5,959,867, 5,970,174, 5,982,937, 5,995,724, 6,002,795, 6,025,922, 6,035,103, 6,041,200, 6,065,041, 6,112,665, 6,116,707, 6,122,407, 6,134,018, 6,141,120, 6,166,821, 6,173,286, 6,185,335, 6,201,614, 6,215,562, 6,219,155, 6,219,659, 6,222,641, 6,224,048, 6,225,974, 6,226,419, 6,238,105, 6,239,895, 6,256,108, 6,269,190, 6,271,937, 6,278,901, 6,279,009, 6,289,122, 6,292,270, 6,299,063, 6,310,697, 6,321,133, 6,327,047, 6,327,050, 6,327,052, 6,330,071, 6,330,363, 6,331,899, 6,340,975, 6,341,017, 6,341,018, 6,341,307, 6,347,256, 6,348,978, 6,356,359, 6,366,918, 6,369,895, 6,381,036, 6,400,443, 6,429,949, 6,449,393, 6,476,927, 6,490,696, 6,501,565, 6,519,053, 6,539,323, 6,543,871, 6,546,364, 6,549,294, 6,549,300, 6,550,991, 6,552,815, 6,559,958, 6,572,293, 6,590,676, 6,606,165, 6,633,396, 6,636,326, 6,643,317, 6,647,149, 6,657,741, 6,662,199, 6,678,068, 6,707,563, 6,741,262, 6,748,471, 6,753,845, 6,757,436, 6,757,440, 6,778,700, 6,781,596, 6,816,276, 6,825,943, 6,832,865, 6,836,342, RE33,973, RE36,947, D341,131, D406,117, D416,550, D417,864, D419,185, D426,206, D439,851, D444,793.

Trademarks

The APPS logo, AutoCal, Auto-Count, Balance, Best, the Best logo, BESTColor, BioVu, BioWare, ColorPASS, Colorproof, ColorWise, Command WorkStation, CopyNet, Cretachrom, Cretaprint, the Cretaprint logo, Cretaprinter, Cretaroller, DockNet, Digital StoreFront, DirectSmile, DocBuilder, DocBuilder Pro, DocStream, DSFdesign Studio, Dynamic Wedge, EDOX, EFI, the EFI logo, Electronics For Imaging, Entrac, EPCount, EPPhoto, EPRegister, EPStatus, Estimate, ExpressPay, Fabrivu, Fast-4, Fiery, the Fiery logo, Fiery Driven, the Fiery Driven logo, Fiery JobFlow, Fiery JobMaster, Fiery Link, Fiery Prints, the Fiery Prints logo, Fiery Spark, FreeForm, Hagen, Inktensity, Inkware, Jetrion, the Jetrion logo, LapNet, Logic, MiniNet, Monarch, MicroPress, OneFlow, Pace, PhotoXposure, PressVu, Printcafe, PrinterSite, PrintFlow, PrintMe, the PrintMe logo, PrintSmith, PrintSmith Site, Printstream, Print to Win, Prograph, PSI, PSI Flexo, Radius, Rastek, the Rastek logo, Remoteproof, RIPChips, RIP-While-Print, Screenproof, SendMe, Sincrolor, Splash, Spot-On, TrackNet, UltraPress, UltraTex, UltraVu, UV Series 50, VisualCal, VUTEk, the VUTEk logo, and WebTools are trademarks of Electronics For Imaging, Inc. and/or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or certain other countries.

All other terms and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners, and are hereby acknowledged.

Introduction | PrintFlow Integration Setup and Use Guide l 3

Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 5

Scope of this Guide ............................................................................................................................. 5Contact Information ............................................................................................................................ 5About the EFI Technique and EFI PrintFlow Integration ................................................................. 7

PrintFlow and Technique Integration Workflow .............................................................................. 7High Level Configuration Overview ................................................................................................... 8Software Requirements ...................................................................................................................... 8About the PrintFlow Setup in Technique .......................................................................................... 8

Set Up Your Technique – PrintFlow Integration for the First Time ............................ 9Configure the XML Paths .................................................................................................................... 9

Create the XML integration location ................................................................................................ 9Configure Application Settings ........................................................................................................ 11

Application Settings ...................................................................................................................... 11Configure the PrintFlow Connector ................................................................................................. 12

Create a new PrintFlow database ................................................................................................. 12Configure the PrintFlow Maintenance Utility .................................................................................. 13

Set the PF_Connector Status ....................................................................................................... 13Configure PrintFlow .......................................................................................................................... 14

Configure the PrintFlow Database ................................................................................................ 14Configure the PrintFlow Paths ...................................................................................................... 14Configure the Post Release Setting .............................................................................................. 15Configure the Database information in the PrintFlow Website ..................................................... 15

Configure properties within SQL database .................................................................................... 17Configuring and Enabling Auto-Schedule ...................................................................................... 18Exporting Cost Centers .................................................................................................................... 19

Exporting the Cost Centers from Technique to PrintFlow ............................................................. 19Exporting Completed Tasks ............................................................................................................. 21Exporting Jobs .................................................................................................................................. 22

Verify the PrintFlow XML Output ................................................................................................... 22Technique Data Collection updating PrintFlow .............................................................................. 23

Installing the Technique Service Controller .................................................................................. 23

Use the Integration in EFI Technique ......................................................................... 24Sending a New Job to PrintFlow ...................................................................................................... 24Scheduling the job in PrintFlow ....................................................................................................... 25Job Changes ...................................................................................................................................... 25

In PrintFlow ................................................................................................................................... 25Parallel Cost Centers ........................................................................................................................ 25

New Integration Features available in Technique 5.4 ............................................... 27Lag & Delay ........................................................................................................................................ 27

Lag ................................................................................................................................................ 27Delay ............................................................................................................................................. 29


Outwork .............................................................................................................................................. 31Using PrintFlow Switchover Time ................................................................................................... 32Working with PrintFlow and Technique Production Scheduling in Parallel ................................ 36Additional Properties ........................................................................................................................ 37Quantity Splits in PrintFlow ............................................................................................................. 37


Introduction The EFI Technique – PrintFlow Integration Setup and Use Guide contains setup and configuration instructions in EFI Technique for the EFI PrintFlow integration. These instructions pertain to the EFI Technique 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 release.

Note For a summarized list of new features for the EFI Technique 5.4 release, see the EFI Technique 5.4 Release Notes.

Scope of this Guide This guide does not cover:

• How to install EFI Technique or EFI PrintFlow • How to configure settings in EFI PrintFlow

Contact Information EFI Support

Web Site: https://customer.efi.com/support

UK Phone: + 44 (0) 1246-298085

US Phone: +1-855-EFI-4HLP

E-mail: [email protected] Regular USA Service Desk hours are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday – Friday.

Regular European Service Desk hours are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Greenwich Mean Time (British Summer Time during summer), Monday – Friday.

Note For problems involving infrastructure (i.e., computers, networks, operating systems, backup software, printers, third-party software, etc.), contact the appropriate vendor. EFI cannot support these types of issues.

EFI Professional Services

UK Phone + 44 (0) 113 3836000 EFI Professional Services can help you perform EFI software installations, upgrades, and updates. This group can also help you implement, customize, and optimize your EFI software plus offer a range of training option


About the EFI Technique and EFI PrintFlow Integration EFI PrintFlow® helps your company relieve bottlenecks, reduce waste, increase productivity, adjust to rapidly changing conditions and optimize your business operations. It is scheduling tool for production that is an alternative to Technique Production Scheduling.

EFI PrintFlow is integrated to EFI Technique to achieve seamless data flow across all parts of the printing operation. This capability extends users’ view of their entire business, making it easier to make more informed decisions, streamline operations and generate greater profits.

Data is passed to and from via various XML files created in designated folders.

Data passed includes the following:

• Cost centers • Job Details (including job status updates from SFDC)

Note It is not intended that the EFI PrintFlow integration is switchable with Production Scheduling (for example, it cannot be made available / unavailable as and when desired) as the two systems would become out of sync.

Note Resource in Technique is named as a Cost Center in PrintFlow. This document will refer to Resources as Cost Centers.

PrintFlow and Technique Integration Workflow


High Level Configuration Overview To set up your PrintFlow integration in Technique, complete the following steps:

1. Enable your PrintFlow integration

2. Set up data transfer folder (hot folders) for the XML data

3. Configure Application Settings

4. Configure integration properties within SQL database

5. Export your data for the first time • Cost Centers • Completed tasks from Planning • Export existing job

6. Verify XML output

7. Configure your PrintFlow integration

Software Requirements

Software Version Obtained from: Comments

EFI Technique 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4

EFI support Additional integration functionality is available in 5.4. For more information about the enhancements, see Chapter New Features in 5.4.

EFI PrintFlow 14.2.40.0 EFI support

EFI PrintFlow Connector

14.2.24.0 EFI support

EFI PrintFlow Website 14.2.2.304 EFI Support

About the PrintFlow Setup in Technique To set up the PrintFlow integration, you will need to configure settings located in several modules in EFI Technique:

• Information Console > Tools > Application & Languages > Application settings • Planning Maintenance

You will also need to configure database requirements within the SQL database.

Important The Technique Administrator for the installation must complete the configuration of the database within the SQL database.

Set Up Your Technique – PrintFlow Integration for the First Time | PrintFlow Integration Setup and Use Guide l 9

Set Up Your Technique – PrintFlow Integration for the First Time The following section provides instructions on how to set up your integration to PrintFlow from Technique for the first time:

• Configure the XML Paths

• Configure the Application Settings per site

• Configure the PrintFlow Connector

• Configure PrintFlow

Note It is assumed that the EFI Technique and EFI PrintFlow products have been installed and correctly licensed.

Configure the XML Paths The PrintFlow integration uses XML to communicate changes.

Create the XML integration location Due to the bi-directional nature of changes, two XML folders are required:

• PrintFlow In

• PrintFlow Out

These folders should exist on the Technique MIS server. A PrintFlow In and Out folder structure is created in this environment.

The In folder is used for inbound messages to PrintFlow. The Out folder is used when the PrintFlow schedule is saved and released to update the Technique MIS.

For example:

\\servername\sharename\PrintFlow\In

\\servername\sharename\PrintFlow\Out

Note You must ensure the PrintFlow location are accessible via a UNC share path and that full control is granted to domain users or users of the Technique MIS.


In the example below, the PrintFlow folder is shared on the UKLEDEMO01 server as \\UKLEDEMO01\PrintFlow therefore access to the PrintFlow In and Out XML folders is:

\\UKLEDEMO01\PrintFlow\In

\\UKLEDEMO01\PrintFlow\Out

Finding the name of the network share

1. Within the folder structure on the server, right-click on the newly created PrintFlow folder and choose Properties.

2. Select the Sharing tab.

3. If the folder is not shared, click the Share button.


4. Click on the drop down list and select Everyone.

5. Click Share.

6. Close the PrintFlow Properties window.

Configure Application Settings The XML integration location folders need to be set in both the Technique Application Settings area and the PrintFlow Maintenance Utility.

Application Settings You can access the application settings from within the Technique Information Console application.

Note You will need Administrator permissions to access the Application Settings.

To enable the settings:

1. Select Tools > Applications & Languages.

2. Select the Application Settings tab.

3. Select the appropriate Site and choose Production Scheduling from the list of applications.

4. Scroll down to settings 18, 26, 27, and 28.

Setting No. Description Comments Example

18 Users can plan outworked tasks.

Default is 0 but this needs to be 1 for outwork tasks to be passed to PrintFlow

1

26 The folder PrintFlow saves its scheduled to.

The folder PrintFlow saves it’s schedule to. This is the UNC location of the PrintFlow Out folder.

\\servername\sharename\PrintFlow\Out In the example above this would be: \\UKLEDEMO01\PrintFlow\Out

27 The folder PrintFlow imports schedule date from.

The folder PrintFlow imports it’s data from. This is the UNC location of the PrintFlow In folder.

\\servername\sharename\PrintFlow\In In the example above this would be: \\UKLEDEMO01\PrintFlow\In

28 Default time for outwork in hours

PrintFlow Outwork Hours. The default is 0. Amend to delay time required in hours, for example 24.

24

5. Enter the Value for each of the settings.

6. Click Save.

Note You must enter 1 for application setting id 18 and a default time for outwork hours (application setting id

28). If these application settings are not entered as above then you will not be able to plan any tasks associated with an order that contains an outwork route.


Configure the PrintFlow Connector

Create a new PrintFlow database It is necessary to create a new PrintFlow database for the integration using the PrintFlow Maintenance Utility.

1. Open the PrintFlow Maintenance Utility.

2. Click Configuration > Create New SQL Server Database.

3. Select the SQL Server and authentication method.

4. Enter the login credentials and the name of the Database to be created.

5. Click Create New Database.

The PrintFlow database is created.


Configure the PrintFlow Maintenance Utility

Set the PF_Connector Status The PrintFlow Connector must have both the XML Inbox and Company Name attributes set.

1. Open the PrintFlow Maintenance Utility.

2. On the PF_Connection Status tab enter the XML Inbox attribute. In the example above this would be \\UKLEDEMO01\PrintFlow\In.

3. Enter the Company Name in the box provided.

4. Click Apply when both attributes are correctly entered.

5. Click the Integration tab and ensure that Pace is entered within the MIS field.

6. Click Start to activate the PrintFlow Connector service.


Configure PrintFlow

Configure the PrintFlow Database 1. Open PrintFlow.

2. Choose File > Configure System to open the Configuration & Maintenance window.

3. Select the Data Connection > Database tab.

4. Enter the Server name.

5. Enter the Database name.

6. Select Use SQL Authentication.

Configure the PrintFlow Paths

1. Open PrintFlow.


2. Choose File > Configure System to open the Configuration & Maintenance window.

3. Select the Data Connection > Paths tab.

4. Check the Local data path entry. (This is where PrintFlow saves its settings data to and should be automatically populated.)

5. Check the Reports path entry. (This is where PrintFlow saves its reporting data to and should be automatically populated.)

6. Enter the Text file output path. (This is the xml outbox location created in Configure XML Paths, see earlier in this user guide.)

7. Enter the Server XML inbox location. (This is the xml inbox location created in Configure XML Paths, see earlier in this user guide.)

8. Enter the XML file path. (This is the xml outbox location created in Configure XML Paths, see earlier in this user guide.)

Configure the Post Release Setting When the PrintFlow schedule is saved and released, we want to immediately update the Technique MIS with the changes. This is achieved by calling the Technique Calculation Web Service.

To create the link so that the export of data can be achieved the Executable field needs to be completed. You can do this as follows:

1. Within the Configuration and Maintenance window select Others > External Executables tab.

2. For the Event named Post Release, enter the name of the Calc Engine URL.

Configure the Database information in the PrintFlow Website To enable PrintFlow Website integration, you need to configure the Database information as below.

1. Ensure the PrintFlow website is installed.


2. Go to Start Menu > All Programs > EFI > PrintFlow Web. Click DB Configuration Utility.

3. A browser will be launched with the URL : http://localhost:8080/pfserver/PFSite/DBConfigUtility.jsp.

4. Enter the following information: a. Database platform: SqlServer / Oracle (As Applicable) b. Database host: Enter the Database server name c. Database Port: For sql - 1433 , Oracle – 1521 (As Applicable) d. User ID: Database User ID e. Password: Database User Password.

5. Click Test, on receiving a success message, click Save.

6. Click on Restart server after saving the settings.


Configure properties within SQL database Note This process must be performed by Technique or by a qualified SQL database technician.

It is necessary to configure what properties from the order are sent to PrintFlow and this is done via the SQL database.

Adding Properties to Technique:

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Connect to Technique server.

3. Expand Databases.

4. Select Planning database.

5. Expand Tables and select PrintflowIntegrationProperties table.

6. Right-click and select Edit. The table will be empty.

7. The following list of properties needs to be added to the table.

PIPPFPropID

PISchdPropID

PIPFDesc

PIScdDesc PILevel

1 1 NumberofPages Pagination 2

2 2 NoUp NoUp 2

3 3 PaperLength SheetDepth 2

4 4 PaperWidth SheetWidth 2

5 5 BasisWeight GSM 2

6 6 FinishedLength ProductDepth 2

7 7 FinishedWidth ProductWidth 2

8 8 BindStyle FinishingStyle 2

9 9 InkDesc InkDesc 2

10 10 Material1Code StockCode 2

11 11 Available Available 2

12 12 Status Status 2

13 13 Substatus Substatus 2

Adding the Properties to PrintFlow:

1. Open the PrintFlow application and navigate to Browse > Property Definitions > New.


2. Enter the new property fields with the exact same data that was entered out the previous steps in PrintFlow and click Create.

These steps should create property definitions in both PrintFlow as well as in Technique, new data should now flow seamlessly across from Technique to PrintFlow.

Configuring and Enabling Auto-Schedule To enable auto schedule, enter the following.

1. Within the Configuration and Maintenance window select System Behavior & Automation > Automation. Within the Data Change Scanning area, enter the Scan data interval in seconds. (We recommend 300 seconds be entered.)

2. Within the Automatic Reschedule after scanning area, select Reschedule.

3. Select the Release updated schedule check box. Click OK.


4. To turn on Auto Mode: Click Automatic-mode within PrintFlow.

Note Allowing the Automatic mode will initiate Read from database, Re-Schedule and Save and Release to Database actions, after a time lapse of the specified Scan data interval.

Exporting Cost Centers PrintFlow needs a list of cost centers and it is important that these are correctly mapped to the Technique Scheduling resource list. This process is made simple using the export function within the Scheduling Maintenance application.

Exporting the Cost Centers from Technique to PrintFlow Cost Centers can be exported one by one, or as a group and can be exported multiple times.

To export All Site Cost Centers:

1. Open the Resources tab within Scheduling Maintenance.

2. Ensure that View Resources by Organization is selected.

3. Select the Site Name.


4. Click To PrintFlow button.

To export a single Cost Center:

5. Open the Resources tab within Planning Maintenance.

6. Ensure that View Resources by Organization is selected.

7. Select the Site name.

8. Select the Resource.

9. Click Yes to export the data or No to Cancel.


10. You will receive a message window confirming the number of resources exported.

11. Click To PrintFlow.

12. Click Yes to export the data or No to Cancel.

13. You will receive a message window confirming the number of resources exported.

Exporting Completed Tasks This manual process must be completed when configuring the integration for the first time.

If Technique Data Collection is installed, completed tasks will automatically update both PrintFlow and Production Scheduling. If it is not installed, completed tasks can be sent to PrintFlow via the export function in Production Scheduling.

To export completed tasks to PrintFlow either as part of the initial configuration or if you do not have Data Collection installed:

1. From Production Scheduling select Tools > Export Completed Tasks to Printflow.

2. Receive confirmation message.

3. Click OK.


Exporting Jobs Order Management allows you to export live jobs to PrintFlow. This manual process must be completed when configuring the integration for the first time.

However it can also be used once the integration is running, although this is not required when the routes are issued to planning via the usual process (from within the order, or changing the status of an order to Await Start).

To export existing jobs:

1. Open Order Management.

2. Select either Current or Pending orders view.

3. Select an order or a group of orders from the list.

4. Select Tools > Export To Printflow.

5. Receive confirmation message.

6. Click OK.

Important In order to successfully export jobs using this method, all tasks should all be issued to the Technique Scheduling application. They do not necessarily need to be scheduled but must at be in the To-do list as a minimum, including any outwork tasks.

Note The bulk export will only warn the user of the first 10 jobs that fail to export (typically because they are not fully issued to the schedule), so it’s important to note these down and deal with them on a job by job basis.

Note It is not necessary to export jobs with a Completed status.

Verify the PrintFlow XML Output After the initial export to PrintFlow we recommend that you verify the PrintFlow XML output to ensure that the configuration is successful and all the data is included in the file.

You should check the Job/form details and Properties.


An example xml is provided below:

Technique Data Collection updating PrintFlow When jobs have completed in Technique Data Collection, this information can be automatically sent directly across to PrintFlow. To enable this you need to install the Technique Service Controller and this will recognize when the jobs have completed in Data Collection and put the information in an XML that directly feeds into the PrintFlow folder.

Installing the Technique Service Controller Once the Technique Service Controller has been installed and opened, click Services and click Printflow Integration Service. Click Settings and enter the database names.


Click Services > Config. Enter the time (in minutes) that the service is to check for a change in the job status in Data Collection to Complete.

Click Save Config and click Start.

Use the Integration in EFI Technique

Sending a New Job to PrintFlow There are various methods for issuing press and bindery operations to the planning board:

• Application Setting id 32 for Order Management entered as 1 (True), will issue any routes that have not previously been sent to the Planning Board when the status is changed from Forward Plan to Await Start.

• Routes are issued via the Print Routing and Finishing Details tab (see Order Management User Guide for further information).

Once the routes have been issued, you can then select to Export to PrintFlow.

Exporting to PrintFlow from Technique

1. From the Orders List, select an individual order or group of orders which have had their routes issued to the planning board, select Tools > Export To PrintFlow. You can only export jobs to PrintFlow that belong to your site.

2. Receive a confirmation message that the export has been successful or not. The export will be unsuccessful if the order contains routes that have not been issued.

Importing into PrintFlow

1. Open PrintFlow and select File > Read from Database. PrintFlow will check the data from the database.

2. On completion, select Browse Job from the toolbar to open the Job Browser window.

3. The newly imported job will appear in the list. If it’s not immediately visible you can enter the job number in the Search window for selection and the job will be highlighted in the list.

Note After the first import, the job will not be scheduled and have no Scheduled Start or Scheduled End Dates within the Job Browser window.

Use the Integration in EFI Technique | PrintFlow Integration Setup and Use Guide l 25

Scheduling the job in PrintFlow Following a successful export from Technique and import into PrintFlow, you now need to schedule the job in PrintFlow.

Select Schedule from the Toolbar. PrintFlow will automatically synchronize and schedule all jobs within the Job Browser window. The job will remain in the Job Browser window, but will now have a Scheduled Start Date and Scheduled End Date. It will only disappear from the Job Browser window when it’s marked as complete.

Job Changes Order amendments, (for example, quantity changes, additional operations, resource changes, version additions and changes), to jobs which have already been exported to PrintFlow, once saved and, if applicable, issued to the planning board, for example, a new binding operation, will be automatically be sent to PrintFlow.

In PrintFlow, select Scan Data Changes from the Toolbar to identify these changes. PrintFlow will scan for the changes and add them into the existing job record. For these changes to be applied the Gantt chart must be re-scheduled and this can be done by selecting Schedule from the Toolbar.

In PrintFlow A task may be moved between resources in PrintFlow as long as the Cost Centre rules/limits allow.

Note Any task moved to a new resource will not have the resource change sent back to Order Management but only be seen Production Scheduling.

Parallel Cost Centers In PrintFlow a parallel cost center can be created and then actual cost centers assigned to it. For example, a site has 5 folding cost centers, each can be configured based on their capabilities and these have been assigned to a Folding Parallel Cost Center. As a consequence, when a folding operation is issued to PrintFlow, it will schedule the folding operation via the Folding Parallel Cost Center and it may be that only 3 of the 5 folding cost centers are able to produce the task. PrintFlow will therefore schedule using the 3 folding cost centers only.

Setting up of Parallel Cost Center in Technique

A Parallel Cost Center must be entered in Planning Maintenance on the Resources tab as per the actual cost centers.

Select PF Virtual CC for the parallel cost center created. This will allow a virtual Cost Center (CC) to be defined in order to be able to create a Parallel Cost Center in PrintFlow.


Select PF Default to Virtual if required. This option will only be available when a Virtual CC is created. This will allow a Virtual CC to be defined as the default cost center if no cost center is selected within the order.

For cost centers not denoted as a parallel cc you can select which parallel cost center this actual resource is assigned in the PF Link To field.

New Integration Features available in Technique 5.4 | PrintFlow Integration Setup and Use Guide l 27

On the Print Routing or Finishing Details tab in Order Management, you can then enter that the print section or finishing operation is to be planned on a Parallel resource by entering Yes in the Parallel field.

New Integration Features available in Technique 5.4

Lag & Delay PrintFlow can include both delays and lags on linked tasks. For example, when you need to dry the ink on a sheetfed press before binding, you add a delay in Planning Maintenance to the finishing cost center, to allow ink to dry after the signatures are off the press. Or, if you have several signatures on one or more presses and you want to start binding after only one or two hours following the start of the press runs, you should enter a lag in the bindery run to indicate the amount of time it should wait for the press run before it starts.

Lag Lag times define how long an upstream task has to run before downstream tasks can start, because a downstream task should only start when enough material has been produced upstream. This lag time is the minimum time PrintFlow must wait, but it can be longer if PrintFlow detects that the downstream task might run out of material before the upstream task even finishes. This can easily happen if the downstream task runs faster, or shift patterns are in place that gives the downstream task more time to run than the upstream task.

If a downstream task will be completed before its upstream one is completed, PrintFlow will add lag time automatically to prevent the downstream task from completing before the upstream task.

For example, if a task is linked to its upstream task with a Lag Time of 300 minutes, it means that after 300 minutes enough material exists to start the task. However, if the task started, it would run out of material very quickly if its upstream task ran more slowly. PrintFlow uses a conservative estimate to delay the downstream task enough to ensure that no such problem would occur. Because of this, PrintFlow can sometimes delay a task longer than necessary. You can configure PrintFlow to not check for any potential problem and allow the downstream task to start as soon as the lag time has elapsed.

If there is a shut downstream and the lag time will cause the run to be finished after the shut, PrintFlow moves the entire run past the shut.


You can configure Lag for a resource in Planning Maintenance > Resources > Crit Delay. Enter the time in hours and minutes as per the example below.

Note You do not need to re-export the cost center after entering values for the Crit Delay as the information is generated against the task in the PrintFlow XML output.

Within PrintFlow you can see the Lag within the Task Edit window for each task.


Within the order in Order Management, if a user enters a Wait Time for the print section this will override the Lag within PrintFlow as follows:

Delay A task Delay is a time interval that you can add to a task. It is commonly used when the delay is a known quantity, such as drying time between passes or between the press run and cutting/folding.


You can configure Delay for a resource in Planning Maintenance > Resources > Drying Times.

Click Drying Times for each cost center to enter the Drying time in minutes for the different paper coats.

Note You do not need to re-export the cost center after entering values for the Drying Times as the information is generated against the task in the PrintFlow XML output.


Within PrintFlow this value will appear as a Delay against the Task, as can be seen in the example below.

Outwork Outwork routes can be sent to PrintFlow using the timeframe included in the Edit Purchase Order Detail window that can be opened from the Purchase Order tab.

The information entered within the Purchase Order will be sent to PrintFlow when the Outwork task is issued to the planning board.

In the following example, application setting id 18 for Production Scheduling and application setting id 86 for Order Management has been entered as 1 (True).

An order has been created which includes a perfect binding operation that has been entered as an outwork route.

This has automatically created a Purchase Order within the Purchase Orders tab in Order Management.

Enter the Req’d (required) and Material In dates, where Material In is when you expect to send the sections to the outworker for binding and Req’d is when you expect to receive the bound product back to site.


Continue the process of updating the purchase order as required in order to print the PO document.

On the Finishing tab, issue the binding routes to the planning board.

Note If you issue the outwork route to the planning board prior to entering the dates within the purchase order, the date values within the PrintFlow XML will be empty.

This now creates two new entries in the PrintFlow XML file that will be imported into PrintFlow and block out the time based on the difference between the Material In and Required values. In the above example this would be 66 hours.

Within PrintFlow this will appear as a series of two tasks on the same outwork resource, the first being the send time, the second being the received back time.

If you choose not to automatically create the purchase orders in the Order Management application, the value entered in application setting id 28 for Production Scheduling (default block of time for outwork routes) will create the time to be blocked out within the PrintFlow application.

Note If application setting id 86 for Order Management has been entered as 1 (True), the value in application setting id 28 for Production Scheduling should now be entered as 0.

Using PrintFlow Switchover Time Switchover time is the time calculated by PrintFlow to account for the time to switch from one task to another, or, in other words, to switch a form on a cost center, such as changing from one web width to another on a web press.

PrintFlow calculates the switchover time by using the task scheduling properties in switchover rules defined for the cost center. PrintFlow automatically calculates the switchover time for all forms on the same cost center whenever the value of the scheduling property is changed from one form to another.

Total Switchover is shown for all tasks in the current scenario in the Scenario list in the Scenario Statistics window. (You might have to click the Configure Fields button to rearrange the listing so that the column shows on your screen.)

Within PrintFlow you can enter switchover time rules based on the left and right form of the properties that are exported from Technique, for example paper size, paper type, etc. An example rule might be, if left form.sheetwidth does not equal right form.sheetwidth then add 20 minutes.


To use the PrintFlow switchover rules you need to ensure that the PF No MR checkbox for the cost center in Technique Planning Maintenance has been selected (as per the example below).

Note This option should only be entered if you want PrintFlow to calculate the switchover time for all tasks for the selected cost center.

Note The resource must be re-exported to PrintFlow once this change has been done.

The PF No MR selection can be implemented for one cost center at a time as you create the rules within PrintFlow.


When the order xml is sent to PrintFlow, that includes a task for the resource entered with no make ready, the SetupMinutes field will be 0.

In the following example, the first two tasks for the H Berg 5U, have been exported from Technique to PrintFlow and, based on the switchover rules that have been entered in PrintFlow for the H Berg 5U, have been applied and the switchover time has been calculated.


The following (simple) rules that have been entered for the H berg 5U cost center include:

• Customer Code (is the customer code for the task on the left different to the customer code for the task on the right), add 60 minutes.

• Task Description (is the task description for the task on the left different to the task description for the task on the right), add 30 minutes.

• Task Code (is the task code for the task on the left different to the task code for the task on the right), add 45 minutes.

This displays in PrintFlow Gantt chart without any set up time. The task starting on 14th March has a dark green block indicating set up time, whereas the second task in the queue has only a light green block indicating no setup time.


Within the Task Edit window this is also visible.

As a consequence a switchover time of 105 minutes has been calculated, as the customer code and task code is different but the task description is the same, (60 + 45 minutes = 105 minutes).

After saving and releasing the schedule from PrintFlow, this is then included in the PFSchedule xml,

and represented in the Technique Planning application as follows:

As a consequence, this will be available on the DC screens for operators to log time against.

Working with PrintFlow and Technique Production Scheduling in Parallel

This option provides you with the ability to test PrintFlow in parallel with Technique Production Scheduling. This allows you to compare results, build rules and validate the auto scheduling in PrintFlow.

To enable this option, you need to ensure that application setting id 34 for the Production Scheduling application is entered as 1 (True).


With the application setting entered as 1 (True) it allows you to schedule the planning board, for example, planning tasks from the To Do list in Production Scheduling, or copying forward issues in Contract Management > Manage Issues but also export to PrintFlow.

Within PrintFlow you can still plan and release the schedule, but the Technique Production Scheduling application ignores this information.

Additional Properties In addition to the properties already entered (see Configure properties within SQL database chapter earlier in this guide), there are now the following additional properties that also need to be added into the table in the database.

PIPPFPropID

PISchdPropID

PIPFDesc

PIScdDesc PILevel

14 14 JobEarliestStart JobEarliestStart 1

15 15 Grade Grade 2

16 16 Grain Grain 2

17 17 Finish Finish 2

18 18 Brand Brand 2

19 19 Certification Certification 2

20 20 Hoppers Hoppers 3

21 21 NumberInserts NumberInserts 2

22 22 InsertTypeList InsertTypeList 2

23 23 NumberPlates NumberPlates 3

24 24 PrintMethod PrintMethod 3

25 25 SectionFold SectionFold 2

26 26 JobOrientation JobOrientation 1

27 27 NumberVersions NumberVersions 1

28 28 GeneralNotes GeneralNotes 1

29 29 PressNotes PressNotes 1

30 30 FinishingNotes FinishingNotes 1

31 31 PackingNotes PackingNotes 1

32 32 AncillaryNotes AncillaryNotes 1

33 33 PaperNotes PaperNotes 1

34 34 DespatchNotes DespatchNotes 1

Quantity Splits in PrintFlow Ability to issue tasks from Order Management to PrintFlow, split the tasks in PrintFlow, based on a 50/50 split, and then for this information to be reflected in Technique Order Management when the schedule is saved and released.

Applying the quantity splits:

In Order Management, the order is created and estimated and the press and bindery routes are issued to the plan. The create order xml is produced and within PrintFlow the order is scheduled as normal and all the tasks are planned as expected.


1. Within PrintFlow, select the task that is to be split, right click and choose Split Task from the shortcut menu.

2. The Split Task window will open. Click OK to confirm the split.


3. The two tasks will appear in PrintFlow.

4. Save and release the Schedule. PrintFlow will generate the schedule XML for Technique with the split task included.

Order Management will create a new task within the order reflecting this change in either Print Routing or Finishing Details.

Note Splits to Outwork routes in PrintFlow will not be reflected back in Technique.

Note Two quantity splits for the same form in PrintFlow will not be reflected back in Technique.

Note Only the time of the splits is generated in the Schedule XML, and therefore the quantity split that is represented in Order Management is calculated based on the time split.

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